Thunderstorms
by jennimiley
Summary: What happens when Ginny goes out of town leaving Harry in charge of the kids for a few days?


**Thunderstorms**

Harry sat hunched over scribbling notes on various pieces of parchment. The desk he sat at was rather worn but a beautiful cherry wood. Aside from the parchment that was occupying Harry's focus at the moment the desk contained a few carefully placed pictures, a messy birthday card from his children, and two paper weights; one a stag, the other a horse. The room in which the desk was placed was cluttered to say the least. There was one wall dedicated to shelves of books that even Hermione Granger, now Hermione Weasley, would envy. A second wall was home to a fireplace and an ornate mantle filled with more pictures and a rather intriguing case that held a fluttering snitch. The third wall which wasn't even a wall consisted of a large bay window and a cushioned seating area if one would so choose to sit there. Looking out of the window for a brief second Harry frowned. The weather was dreary and the night was extremely dark save for the lightening that illuminated the room frequently. After one particular flash of lightening a loud clap of thunder which seemed to rattle the windows caused Harry to knock over his jar of ink. But only seconds later, the sound that followed brought Harry running at full speed through the door and up the stairs to a sight that made him forget his previous five hours of paperwork.

Standing in the doorway to a dimly lit but empty bedroom was a small figure with red, disheveled hair and positively howling for her mum who was nowhere to be found. Harry picked up his daughter and swayed gently with her, rubbing soothing circles on her back. "Shhh, daddy's here sweetheart."

"Daddy."

Harry's heart nearly broke at the shaky voice in which his daughter spoke to him. That one simple word had not been a question but an affirmation to herself that she was safe. Harry felt Lily's small arms slowly relax their hold around his neck and her breathing became less ragged.

A small noise caused Harry to turn and he couldn't help but grin at the small boy with untidy hair, round glasses, and brilliant green eyes shuffling into the room with a look of concern on his face. "I heard LeeLu crying."

Only two years older than his sister, Albus had a hard time learning to say Lily Luna and the result was a combination of the last syllable in Lily and the first syllable in Luna, hence the name LeeLu. But even several years later Albus was not the only one to call his sister LeeLu.

Harry nodded, "She just had a bit of a fright with the weather."

Albus nodded as well, apparently finding his dad's explanation as satisfactory. "I brought her blanket, and Percy."

At the mention of her favorite toy, a small ragtag doll with a tuft of red hair and horn-rimmed glasses Lily lifted her head, "Percy!"

No one could remember where the toy had come from but Lily had become attached to it and instantly named it Percy. Another mystery was the way Lily had somehow deemed Percy as her favorite uncle, never allowing him out of her sight if she could help it. Perhaps it was a combination of Percy's favor in her eyes and the glasses on the doll that looked suspiciously like his own that caused Lily to associate it with Percy, but the doll remained her favorite toy as Percy remained her favorite uncle.

Harry sat Lily on his bed and looked at Albus, "Can you watch your sister for me so I can brush my teeth?"

Albus nodded his head vigorously and climbed onto the bed next to Lily handing her Percy and helping her scoot away from the edge and closer to the squishy pillows.

Harry watched for a minute as his two youngest children chattered quietly with each other before closing the door so he could change for bed. As he brushed his teeth he wondered how Ginny was doing. Harry had taken a couple of days off of work to stay with the kids while Ginny traveled to Bulgaria for the Quidditch World Cup. This year the teams were Bulgaria and the Chudley Cannons. Bulgaria was expected to win as they had the home field advantage while the Chudley Cannons were never favored to win anything. As senior reporter for Quidditch games, Ginny had exclusive tickets to all games and managed to get an extra ticket and permission to bring Ron along. Harry had just started to really miss his wife when another clap of thunder shook him from his daydreams. The thunder brought with it the sound of someone running down the hallway and it wasn't long before the oldest Potter child came barreling through the door slightly out of breath, "DAD!"

James abruptly stopped as he saw Lily and Albus sitting on his parents' bed. He seemed to try and compose himself before he started talking, "I went to get some water and Al wasn't in his bed and I got worried and thought someone tried to kidnap him and then I went downstairs to see if he went to get water too and he wasn't there either so I came to tell you."

Harry tried hard not to laugh at his oldest son's jumbled explanation knowing full well it was the thunderstorm that had sent him here and not his worry for his siblings. Instead he grabbed James and swung him onto the bed next to Lily, "Well it's a good thing I've got you to help me look after your brother and sister."

The kids began laughing as Harry took it in turns to try tickling each of them as they scrambled around the bed and out of his reach. Finally out of breath, Albus scooted in between James and Lily, "Can you tell us a story dad?"

Harry frowned, "It's late and you should all be back in bed."

James jumped a bit as the thunder rolled on outside, "Please dad, just one story?"

Lily had crawled into Harry's lap at the sound of thunder and clutched his shirt. She looked at Harry with teary eyes and a trembling bottom lip, "Story please?"

Harry caved. Even if his two sons couldn't persuade him, the sight of his youngest and only girl, frightened of a thunderstorm and close to tears would convince him that a story was the only option available. It didn't help that as much as Albus resembled Harry, Lily resembled her mother down to the flaming red hair and brown eyes. Harry ruffled Lily's hair, "Ok, but one story and then it's back to bed ok?"

All three children nodded enthusiastically but four stories later Harry noticed that finally all of his children were sleeping peacefully and the raging thunderstorm was now a distant memory. Harry gently kissed Lily's forehead and drifted off to sleep as well.

**The Next Morning**

Ginny walked into the entrance way and took a deep breath. Home. Even though she had a great time and loved the perks of her job, she was always amazed at how much she loved coming home. She glanced around and noticed that the house was unusually quiet for a Saturday morning and so close to lunch. Ginny set her bags down and headed up the stairs to look for her family. She noticed none of the kids were in their rooms and headed to her room thinking that maybe Harry took them to the Burrow or the park for the day. Ginny opened the door and stopped. The sight before her melted her heart. The king sized comforter and sheets were in jumbled pile on the floor. James was laying at the foot of the bed with Lily's pink blanket draped over him. Harry was precariously close to the edge of the bed with Lily snuggled comfortably against his right side, her right hand clutching Percy and resting across Harry's chest. Lily's small head was tucked against Harry's shoulder and his chin just rested against her forehead. As for Albus, he was an exact replica of his father save for Lily nestled against his side. Both Harry and Albus slept stretched out to the fullest with arms and legs as far apart as possible. Both had jet black hair that stood up every which way and their glasses were sitting at odd angles on their faces.

Ginny moved to pick a pillow off the floor when Harry opened his eyes. "Hey," she whispered to him as their eyes connected.

"Hi," Harry whispered back with a smile.

Ginny dropped the pillow on the floor and sat on the bed next to Albus and carefully removed his glasses. She grinned at her sleeping children then looked back to Harry, "So what happened in here?"

Harry shrugged, "Thunderstorm."

Ginny laughed, "I wish I could have been here. Those are my favorite moments."

Harry watched as she ran her fingers through her son's unruly hair. Every thunderstorm brought the same reaction from the Potter children. Lily would scream, terrified of the noise and the rapid lightning flashes. Albus would follow in concern knowing Lily would miss her blanket and Percy, and as the dutiful older brother would bring them without complaint. And lastly, James would come running in as soon as he had a plausible excuse to check on his siblings. Those moments always culminated in a story and all five Potters asleep and snuggled together in one bed.

Ginny sighed, "Did they give you any trouble?"

Harry thought back to Wednesday when Ginny left. Lily had cried for several hours each day agonizing over her mum's departure. Albus and James had to be separated on several occasions for fighting. Harry, who was used to cooking for the Dursleys, had managed to burn more than one meal. And when Hermione stopped by with Rose and Hugo, all five children had managed to find a mud puddle, a skunk, and some lacy knickers from the neighbor's laundry line. Harry looked at his sleeping children and then back to Ginny with a smile, "They were perfect."

At that moment James began to stir and sat up, "MUM!" He lunged forward and into Ginny's arms.

The outburst woke up both Lily and Albus and what followed was a scuffle for a coveted spot in Ginny's lap.

Several hours later Ginny and Harry were sitting on their worn leather couch when they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Albus had a handful of crayons and a piece of parchment and lay on the floor to draw. "Dad, what did that spider look like in your story?"

Harry began to describe the large spider as having eight eyes, eight hairy legs, and almost as big as their house. Ginny frowned as Albus continued to draw, "What stories did you tell them Harry?"

"I just told them a few things from my second year. I made sure to keep out the really bad stuff."

Noticing the look of concern on Ginny's face he gave her a quick squeeze, "I promise I kept it light. Just spiders, slugs, and cats."

Later on, as Ginny was preparing supper she heard James and Albus having a serious conversation. "Al, you know dad's stories aren't true."  
"Yes they are James." Ginny could almost picture the look on her youngest son's face defending his dad to his brother.

"Come on Al, think about it."

There was a moment of silence before Albus finally responded, "it is true, and you know it because we see spiders all the time."

Ginny walked silently to the kitchen door and peeked out at the two boys. James was facing Albus and shook his head, "Uncle Ron is the only person who is almost as brave as dad right?"  
Ginny watched as Albus scrunched his face and finally nodded.

"Well," James started, "then why would he be so scared of a bunch of spiders right?"

Albus looked thoughtful before answering, "You sometimes get scared at bugs."

James shrugged, "yea but I'm just a kid and Uncle Ron is big. Kids are supposed to get scared."

Albus crossed his arms defiantly, "I still don't think dad made it up."

"Then what about Aunt Hermione?"

At the mention of Hermione's name, Ginny opened the door a little more to get a better look at the boys.

"Aunt Hermione is smarter than everyone Al. Do you really think she would turn herself into a cat?"

Ginny watched as Albus finally gave in to his brother's line of thinking, "Yea I guess not, but he didn't lie about that ghost."

James fell on his back and began laughing until Albus punched him, "Don't laugh at me."  
"Come on Al! Why would any ghost want to live in a toilet?"

Ginny turned back to the kitchen as her sons began discussing the finer points of living in a toilet as only little boys could do and found herself face to face with her husband.

"Hey, what's with the frown?"  
Harry scrunched up his face just as Albus had done only moments earlier, "The boys think I made up those stories."

Ginny grinned and placed a hand on Harry's cheek, "I'm rather glad they don't believe your stories."

Harry let out a breath and slumped into a nearby chair. He glared at Ginny making himself look like a sulking five year old. Ginny laughed, "Think about it Harry, if the boys believed your stories they would be out looking for acromantulas and trying to brew polyjuice potion using the hairs from Crookshanks."

If possible Harry looked even more put out as he rolled his eyes and turned his back on his wife. Ginny walked up behind her husband and wrapped her arms around his neck. She gave him a light kiss on the cheek, "Cheer up, Ron and Hermione will be here soon and you can ask him all about the Chudley Cannons and their spectacular finish at the Quidditch World Cup."

**Later that night**

Ginny was sitting on the floor with Lily in her lap surrounded by Hugo, Rose and Albus as James set up a game of exploding snap. Hermione was talking to Harry about ministry work as he set up a game of Chess for himself and Ron. Suddenly a loud scream filled the house followed by a series of bangs and another scream. Lily had become so startled she practically choked Ginny while Albus and James ran to their dad. Hermione furrowed her eyebrows and Rose and Hugo continued on as if nothing had happened.

Albus broke the silence and with a strangled whisper looked around at everyone, "What was that noise?"

At that precise moment Ron half ran, half stumbled down the stairs looking behind him as if being chased by something worse than a dementor. "Bloody hell Harry!"

Ginny's eyebrows shot up and Hermione glared, "Ronald, there are children here."

Ron blushed and looked around as every eye was on him, "Sorry."

Albus tugged on Harry's arm, "Dad, what happened?"

Harry looked down at his son to answer when Rose spoke up, "Dad always does that when he sees a spider."

Ginny caught the look shared between James and Albus and bit back a smile.

"What do you mean?" James had moved to sit next to Rose.

Rose shrugged, "He just doesn't like them."

Albus looked over his shoulder, "Uncle Ron you're not scared of spiders are you?"

Ron turned a brilliant shade of red but before he could answer Rose spoke up, "No, I wouldn't say he's scared of spiders."

Ron smiled, "well thanks Rosie."

"He's bloody terrified of them."

Hermione gasped, "Rose Weasley you watch your mouth young lady."  
Ginny and Harry roared with laughter as Ron's face turned purple at his daughter's betrayal.

The children were well into their seventh game of exploding snap when Albus decided to stop playing and crawled in the chair next to Hermione. She grinned and let him climb into her lap, "What are you reading Aunt Hermione?"

Harry, Ron and Rose all answered, "Hogwarts a History."

Hermione tried to be angry but really couldn't. She nodded to Albus and he grinned at her. "Are there really ghosts at Hogwarts?"

"Of course there are." Hermione answered.

Before she could continue, Rose started talking. "There's Nearly Headless Nick, The Bloody Barron, The Grey Lady, Peeves but he's really a poltergeist and not a ghost…"  
"What are you a walking encyclopedia?" James snorted.

Hugo leaned over to James, "She reads that book almost as much as mum."

Rose glared at the boys but continued, "And there's Moaning Myrtle…."

Albus sat up, "Who's Moaning Myrtle?"

Harry smiled because his boys were starting to realize his stories he told were true, "She's the ghost in the toilet. I told you about her last night."

Ginny watched as Albus and James shared another important look with each other. At that precise moment Ginny realized what was going to happen next. Reaching for Hermione's arm she whispered, "I'm so sorry but I want you to realize that whatever the boys ask you, Harry was the one who told them everything."  
Hermione tilted her head and looked at Ginny quizzically. "What are you talking about?"  
Ginny bit her lip when Albus started talking, "So if Uncle Ron is really scared of spiders…"  
"And there really are ghosts in the toilets," James continued.

Hermione glared at Harry realizing what was surely coming next. Even Ron looked at Harry, "You're dead meat mate. Might as well get ready to move in with Myrtle."  
Albus looked up at his aunt, "Did you really turn yourself into a cat?"

His voice was almost a whisper but Hermione was sure everyone across the universe heard the question.

Rose snorted, "Mum is too smart for that. Everyone knows unless you're a registered animagus you can't turn into animals and it's too dangerous to try it with polyjuice potion."

Albus grinned, "That's the stuff dad said she tried to use but put a cat hair in it."

Rose looked at Hermione, "Mum please tell me you didn't."

Ginny looked on as her husband squirmed under Hermione's glare. Hermione turned to her daughter, "You have to realize we were only in our second year and shouldn't have been making the potion anyway."

James looked at Rose and grinned wickedly, "Your dad is scared of spiders and your mum turned herself into a cat."

Rose turned to face James and without a trace of any emotion she shrugged. "Yes, but your dad, the great Harry Potter has a ghost in the u-bend of a toilet who fancies him. And when my mum is done hexing him your dad will be living in the toilet as well."

Albus slowly removed himself from Hermione's lap and went to his dad. His face was full of concern as he looked Harry in the eyes. "Dad, I don't want you to go live in the toilet. I'm sorry if I got you in trouble by asking Aunt Hermione about being a cat. I just wanted to prove to James that your story was real."

Harry grinned and scooped up his son, "I'm sure if you ask Aunt Hermione nicely, she won't send me to the toilet."  
Hermione couldn't help but laugh. One pair of emerald green eyes was twinkling with mischief and the other pair of emerald green eyes was begging her not to send his dad away. "I'll let your dad off the hook this time Al."

**Ready for Bed**

Ginny snuggled next to Harry with a contented sigh as he whispered in her ear, "I've missed you Mrs. Potter."

She smiled and turned to kiss him, "I've missed you too Mr. Potter."

Harry rolled on top of Ginny and deepened their kiss. He placed a trail of kisses along Ginny's jaw and down her neck. He allowed a small groan to escape as he felt Ginny's hands under his shirt. He sat up and allowed her to pull off his shirt and slowly lowered himself again. Her fingers traced a path along his back, up and down his arms and finally found their way to his untidy hair.

Harry felt Ginny shiver as he traced his own paths along her skin with his lips. He grinned against her neck and gently kissed his way to her earlobe. He felt her body lift to meet his as he nibbled on her ear and his left hand teased the skin just below the bottom of her shirt. Harry felt his own body shiver in response as Ginny's hands moved from his hair, her fingers lightly tracing the curves of his back, the muscles in his arms, over the contours of his chest, across his back once more and then the teasing touches around the waistband of his pajama pants.

Ginny felt herself being lifted from the bed as Harry pulled her into his lap. Her legs were wrapped around his waist and his hands were now tangled in her hair. After the years of being married the couple always found they reveled in the first night together even if it was only one night apart. Their movements were slow and deliberate, memorizing every detail as if they would never see each other again. Ginny was wearing a faded Gryffindor t-shirt that had once belonged to Harry and a pair of lacy underthings that Harry knew he had never seen before.

Harry lifted Ginny's shirt off and pulled her against his chest. The warm skin of their bodies touching was like a current of electricity. They locked eyes and it was as if time stood still. Ginny felt Harry's hands against every inch of her back replaced by cool air as they moved to rest along her waist.

"Harry," Ginny said his name softly. It was almost a sigh but almost a whisper and it was repeated as his hands moved from her waist to the contours of her breasts. The third time Ginny spoke his name Harry leaned in and kissed her. The kiss was gentle but filled with longing and desire. Ginny's breathing became ragged as Harry kissed a trail of fire from her jawbone, down her neck, and finally to her breasts. She leaned back against Harry's hands arching her back as he let his mouth capture first one breast and then another. Her hands found their way to Harry's hair again and pulled him until his lips found hers again. She pushed herself against Harry until they were laying down again, this time with Ginny on top. Quick hands removed the remainder of their clothes and it was a tangle of arms and legs, touching and kissing, and finally together.

Harry was almost asleep when he felt Ginny sit up and look at him. "What's wrong?"

Ginny smiled, "Nothing. "

Harry rolled to his side propping himself on one elbow. "Are you sure?"

Ginny grinned and nodded, "I'm just glad Hermione didn't hex you. I would have missed you if you had to live with Moaning Myrtle in the toilet."


End file.
